


The kids are alright

by PressPie



Series: In a world that is a little kinder [1]
Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion, Rebuild of Evangelion | Evangelion: New Theatrical Edition
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bit of Drama, It'll take time but they'll get there, Kaworu and Mari become good friends too, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Once I figure out a solid way to write Mari there will be Asumari too, Rebuild of Evangelion Sequel/Time Loop Theory, Shnji and Asuka will be good friends, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, So will Asuka and Rei, Some elements from the manga and a lot from the rebuilds mixed in, Time Loop Theory, featuring a bit of Manga!shinji, its a gamble, little angst, slow build kinda, till then lots of fluffy kawoshin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24944611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PressPie/pseuds/PressPie
Summary: If things had been slightly different and the world a little kinder. Basically all the eva pilots growing up together
Relationships: Ayanami Rei & Ikari Shinji, Ikari Shinji & Shikinami Asuka Langley, Ikari Shinji/Nagisa Kaworu
Series: In a world that is a little kinder [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1805389
Comments: 14
Kudos: 52





	1. They exist even though they aren't supposed to.

**Author's Note:**

> This my very first fanfic ever. If it's a bit crude please forgive me!!(⌒_⌒;)  
> Any suggestion or criticism is welcome!  
> and comments are appreciated!!  
> I wanted to write a fic about the lil eva pilots and them growing up together filled with all kinds of fluff.  
>  **Edit 11.12.2020 : I've revised this fic and changed a few things in the previous chapters and many in the ones to come. I realized that there are a few characters that I want to add and a few relationships that I would like to change.  
>  I apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for bearing with me!!  
> **

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaworu starts to realize who he is and the Ikaris welcome a new addition to their family

###  Yet somehow, they are here. 

Kaworu didn’t know why or how he was born but he knew that he was quickly abandoned. He was about four years old when he became more or less self-aware of his existence.

#####  March 30, 2004 

_I am Kaworu Nagisa and I am an individual, I have my own will. I am alive, breathing, and am my own person. I am me._

He realised this in every cycle sooner or later, he was after all, the angel of free will but this time he felt something different, something missing.  
Adam, his mother, wasn’t calling him. 

Was Adam even his mother anymore? Kaworu did not know. Every time he was born into the world he would feel Adam calling him back, calling to him to its womb, to be one with him and every time Kaworu was blessed with the power to choose to ignore Adam’s voice but this time there was no such pull or such voice. Kaworu put his hand on his chest right above where his heart was, it was warm and it was beating in a steady rhythm. How was he existing without Adam calling him? Was he allowed to exist in this state? Nevertheless, he _is_ existing, he _is_ warm and _is he human?_ He felt like one. At this thought, the child broke into a massive, toothy grin. It was so unprompted and strange that his caregiver quickly rushed to him to inspect his mouth.

“Oh dear, did you put something in your mouth again? Last time I caught you eating a bug, Nagisa didn’t I tell you not to do that again?” she yelled.  
“Itsh nowt dath Mish Makinami” Kaworu managed to say. His mouth was held open firmly by the caregiver to make sure he hadn’t eaten something he wasn’t supposed to. Makinami sighed releasing him. “I just realised I’m Kaworu Nagisa!” he said massaging his mouth. “And I’m alive and no one is calling for me”. 

Makinami was taken aback by this statement. Most children in the orphanage longed for some to 'call for them', to have a home. For a child this small to say something like that was very peculiar… but then again this wasn’t a ‘regular’ boy after all. No, this boy was given in her care by some seriously rich research organisations. Her ‘acquaintance’ worked there and had suggested giving the child to her. The amount of money she had received to make sure that the boy grew up “as normal and naturally as possible without attracting any unwanted attention while following the guidelines we give you” had made her faint. It was thanks to the sum she received due to this curious little boy that the orphanage was able to care for and house more children than ever and give them the attention and facilities they needed. She could help Kaworu grow up normally but couldn’t do anything about all the attention he got. Alabaster skin, a mop of grey hair and warm red eyes peaked the interest of many, adults and children alike.

“That’s good for you Nagisa” she said.  
“It is, thank you.”  
“How about we go play in the garden? The sky’s pretty cloudy so the sun won’t hurt your skin too much”

* * *

“Are you sure Gendo?”  
“Yes. There’s no going back now. Not that I want to”  
“Very well. It’s all good then, shall we bring her in tomorrow?”  
“I’ve already done all the paperwork but it’ll take time to be certified. We can bring her in by next week. How do you think Shinji will feel? Will he like her?”  
“I’m sure he will love her as much as he loves us.”  
“I hope so. I’m worried you’ve spoiled him too much”  
“Don’t say that!”  
Shinji heard his mother laugh and his father chuckle. They were speaking in whispers or at least were trying to but Shinji was a skilled eavesdropper. Lately his parents had been talking about a ‘her’. He didn’t know who ‘she’ was but her parents talked about her more than they talked about him or to him! He had been eavesdropping their conversations for a few days now, to find out more about ‘her’. He felt threatened by her. She was taking away all the attention his parents had been giving him and he didn’t even know who she was! Shinji felt a bit angry at her too, he couldn’t help himself.  
His curiosity got the better of him as he slowly crept into his parents’ room.  
“Oh, Shinji have you been standing there a while? Why didn’t you come in?” his mother, Yui asked. Shinji fiddled with his shirt a little, he didn’t want to admit he was eavesdropping because it felt wrong but he wanted an answer so bad. “Mama who is this ‘she’ you and dad keep talking about?” he quietly asked. Upon hearing this question Yui smiled but Gendo looked slightly troubled.  
“Shinji are you jealous already?” his mother teased. Shinji went beet red with anger and embarrassment. “I’m not jealous! I just...! I just want to know why you both keep taking about her!!” he blurted.  
“You’ll meet her soon Shinji” his father said in a stern voice. “and you better be nice to her” he added.

Shinji had dressed himself up before the arrival of his little sister. His parents thought very highly of her so he had to make a good impression. His parents left early that morning to pick her up. Shinji had tidied his room and combed his hair, twice. He hid his favorite toy, a three-foot-tall penguin plushie he named Pen-pen in the depths of his closet. He had lost his parents to his little sister but he refused to lose Pen-pen to her, it was far too precious. 

As he was busy brushing his teeth (the third time) the doorbell rang. He quickly tided up and went to open the door to welcome his little sister. Shinji was beyond nervous.  
“We’re home!” Gendo and Yui said in unison.

“Welcome home!” Shinji replied, he was on his toes busy looking for someone other than his parents. 

He had to move out of the way to let his parents in and saw a small child in a frilly dress latched onto his mom. Latched on to **HIS** mom. Shinji felt angry.  
Yui crouched down and turned the child towards Shinji. She looked smaller than him and was fast asleep. She wasn’t anything like the other kids he had seen. Her face reminded him of his mother despite being it being chubby and round. Her hair was a really light blue for some reason. She was so tiny and smelled of baby powder.

“This is Rei. Rei Ikari, your new little sister. She is only a year old. Isn’t she very cute Shinji?” his mother said fondly.  
“Can I touch her? She looks soft”  
Yui nodded and Shinji immediately poked her cheek with more force than he had intended to. Rei winced at his touch and woke up. “Shinji, don’t do that. You might hurt her” his father warned  
Her eyes were hazy at first but then quickly focused on Shinji. He gulped. Her eyes were red. His sister was so weird.

“H…hello Rei” Shinji began carefully “Welcome home” and he smiled. 

Rei stretched her chubby arms towards Shinji and pressed them against his face. They felt delicate and warm. She squished his face as if in recognition then smiled and started giggling.  
Shinji’s anger evaporated at that very moment and he knew that to protect his little sister Rei and her smile he would fight the whole world if he had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) Evangelion 3.0 +1.0 was supposed to be released today  
> Edit: I forgot to mention that Makinami is not Mari! I only named her so because I couldn't come up with a good name for Kaworu’s caregiver and because some of her later interactions will be based off of Manga Mari's relationship with Yui.


	2. "Bonk!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asuka strikes! but so does Shinji and Misato has to stop them.

#####  November 22, 2006 

“I’m just glad the old men aren’t watching everything I do this time” Kaworu said offhandedly while he was drawing a picture of a lake side. Makinami had heard Kowaru say lots of strange things before and had gotten used to it but this was flat out creepy. Old men? Watching him? There were no “old men” working at the orphanage and Kaworu was given to her when he was an infant. He had seen old men in movies and cartoons but never interacted with any. Kaworu might not have noticed but he was very sheltered. He wasn’t allowed outside the orphanage nor allowed to meet any of the other children except during a short recess. This wasn’t Makinami’s doing though, her ‘funders’ had specifically requested it to be so. Had he been sneaking out all by himself? That would be impossible. If they found out someone had been 'stalking' him she could get in trouble. Kaworu’s comment terrified her.

“Is any one troubling you Nagisa? You can tell me” Makinami asked him softly. Kaworu looked at her and smiled. “No, no one is troubling me. Thank you for asking.” 

“You just said some old men were watching you”  
Kaworu’s smile slightly faltered. 

“That was nothing really… It’s something irrelevant to this time, I think…” he said as he put his focus back on colouring his lake a bright orange.  
“The water is blue Nagisa” Makinami said as she saw this.  
“Oh, I know. I’m drawing the lake side during sunset that’s why the water is orange…I think a red and yellow sky would look nice, don’t you?” Kaworu replied. 

After an hour Kaworu was done and proudly held up his painting for Makinami to see. There were spots of red, yellow and orange on his clothes and a bright blue mark on his cheek.  
“That’s too not bad Nagisa” Makinami said encouragingly. The painting itself was not quite shabby unlike it's artist.  
“Thank you, I drew it from memory.”  
“Memory?” Kaworu had never been to a lake side. “Did you see it any movie or book?”  
“No, it’s from my memory.”

As Kaworu hurried off to hang his painting in his room Makinami simply shook her head. Sometimes she forgot how small Kaworu was because of his rather mature manner of speech. It was common for children of his age to have imaginary friends. 

_His imagination must run wild. To think of some creepy old men watching him constantly…_

Kaworu hadn’t returned for a while so she went to check on him. He was in his room, worriedly looking out of his window.

“Don’t worry, there are no old men watching you”

When Makinami said this Kaworu looked up to her, his eyes momentarily defocused as if he was searching for something far away and then all at once snapped back.

“Huh? Why would old men be watching me? I’m worried because those two kids are fighting tooth and nail in the garden.” Kaworu remarked pointing out of his window.

_What a strange kid._

* * *

“Shinji I’m really sorry but we have to go” Yui said impatiently. Shinji was still clinging to her leg. It was his first day being babysat at someone else’s house. He didn’t want to. 

“But Rei gets to go to work with you!” Shinji whined. Yui gave Gendo a hesitant look. Rei was sleeping comfortably, cuddled up in his arms. “It’s because she is a little sick Shinji… We told you that, remember?” 

Shinji wished he was a ‘little sick’ too so that he could go to work with his parents too but then instantly felt guilt wash over him as he thought of his little sister. 

“She can’t stay here with me?” he asked quietly.

“Sorry Shinji”

“Okay, but make sure she has Pen-pen with her… so she knows her big brother is there for her!” 

“Of course Shinji. Speaking of Pen-pen, Misato was the one who gave it to you when you were little. She’s the one who will be looking after you while we are at work” 

“Wow really?” The fact that this woman, Misato was it? was the one who gifted him Pen-pen automatically made him respect her very much. 

\-----------

Shinji was seated at the dining table. He didn’t know what to do so he was looking around. Misato didn’t seem too bad. She was very nice to him when he greeted her and had a warm smile. He could hear loud noises coming from another room further down the hall. Soon the dark purple-haired young woman bounced out of the kitchen.  
“Would you like some orange juice?” she asked.

“I don't like that much. I prefer apple”

“I don’t have that… Will lemon juice do?”

“Okay.”

“Asuuuukaaaa! We’re having lemon juice!! Do you want some?” Misato called out to someone. She was really loud so he covered his ears.  
A head with bright red hair popped out of the noisy room. 

“But I like orange!” she wailed. 

“Shinji wants lemon. Since he’s new here, why don’t we have that today?”

The girl’s eyes darted towards Shinji and he quickly looked down. 

“Oh, so this is the new kid. He looks dull”

“Asuka don’t be mean.” Misato turned to Shinji “Your parents and her mom work at the same place, NERV and I am an intern there, so here we are...”

The red-haired girl walked into the living room. She was as tall as Shinji was and looked as old as him. She was wearing a neat red dress and had her hair tied up in half twin tails. 

“I’m Asuka and I’m gonna be the greatest scientist to ever exist” she pompously declared.

“I’m Shinji Ikari… Nice to meet you!” he said as he extended his hand to greet her. 

She didn’t take it. 

“Here you go Shinji” Misato said placing a cold glass of lemonade in his hand and saving him from being further embarrassed. 

“Thank you Miss Katsuragi!” Shinji smiled. 

“Only Misato’s fine… Calling me Katsuragi makes me feel old.”

“Oh, then. Thank you Miss Misato!” 

“Welcome” Misato beamed. 

“Hey where’s my glass Misato?” Asuka asked

“I thought you didn’t want any”

“I didn’t say thaaaaat”

“Then what’s the magic word?”

“ugh” Asuka grumbled. “please?” she said in a very low voice.

Misato grinned 

“Shinji if you need me don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll be in my room.” Misato said to him as she handed Asuka a glass.  
Asuka happily took it and was on her way back to the game room when she turned around. 

“Hey Ikari! Do you play video games?” 

\-----------

“You’re letting him get away Ikari!”

“I’m sorry”

“UGH! You messed up again Ikari! You were supposed to dodge that!”

“I’m sorry”

“Ikari! Why didn’t you attack?”

“I’m-”

“Quit saying sorry over and over again and DO something! Idiot Ikari!”

“Hey! Don’t call me that! That’s not cool!” Shinji yelled rising up to his full height (which wasn’t much). He usually kept quite when other kids insulted him. Asuka saying idiot Ikari felt like an insult to his parents because his parents went by ‘Ikari'. Shinji knew Asuka didn’t mean it that way but it still felt wrong. Shinji did not tolerate anybody insulting his parents. 

“Fine. How about you do something and help me for once, Stupid Shinji!” Asuka yelled back unfazed by Shinji’s outburst. Shinji did not bother to correct her. If he did she might make up a new and more creative name to call him. Shinji huffed and sat back down turning his focus on the game. 

After 12 more levels and 2 hours of yelling and throwing insults at each other Shinji and Asuka were finally on the last level of the game. 

“You better not mess up this level otherwise we will have to play the whole thing again!! You're supposed to be good at this!! I've heard it's a pretty popular game here and you're from around here, aren't you?” Asuka said as she punched his shoulder.

“Hey OW! Wait you’re not?” Shinji asked as he rubbed his shoulder. It was a bit swollen due to the amount of times Asuka had punched him. He felt dumb immediately after asking the question because of how obvious the answer was.

“Yeah DUUUh! I’m from Germany!” she said proudly. 

“Then what are you doing here?” 

“Stupid Shinji don’t you know we start school in a few months. Like not preschool but _school_ school!”

_WE? What does she mean WE? Oh please don't tell me Asuka will be going to the same school as me._

Shinji had been looking forward to going to school even though he didn't like to socialize. Now school didn't seem as exciting.

“I know, I know. Don’t they have schools in Germany?”

“Of course they do! What are you stupid? The school WE are going to is very special! Not all children can get into it! It’s only for the kids of NERV personnel! Your parents work at NERV, don’t they?” 

“Yeah”

“You should take pride your gonna go to this school. It’s one of the best in the world! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be going” Asuka smirked and pressed play. “Get ready Shinji, this is the boss battle.”

Shinji lost at the first blow and Asuka was left fighting 9 towering white fiends on her own, right as she was about to finish the game she died and as a result, Shinji was getting an earful from her.

“STUPID STUPID STUPID STUPID. HOW DARE YOU DIE AT THE FIRST BLOW!” she screeched as she repeatedly hit his head with her fist producing an exquisite ‘bonk’ sound.

“OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH! STOP IT! IT WASN’T MY FAULT THE CONTROLLER MALFUNCTIONED!” Shinji yelled through her beatings while trying to cover his head. 

Asuka accidentally bonked him too hard. Shinji almost cried before yelling “THAT’S IT PLEASE STOP!” and pulling hard on her cheek. 

“HEY OW YOUR NAWT SCHUPPOSED TO HIT A GIRL” cried Asuka. Her voice was shrill but she still hadn’t ceased her attack on Shinji. 

“But I’m not hitting! I’m pinching your cheek and that’s not hitting” Shinji smiled through the pain and did not let go. Asuka’s bonks were getting harder and more rapid and Shinji’s eyes were filling with small tears.

“STOP PINCHING ME” yelled Asuka.

“FIRST STOP HITTING ME” yelled Shinji louder.

“WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE BOTH YOU?” a voice louder than both of theirs’ bellowed. Asuka momentarily stopped her bonking and Shinji’s grip on her cheek loosened. Both of them turned to see Misato standing at the door with her arms on her hips. She was trying very hard not to laugh while maintaining her serious ‘I’m in charge here’ expression. 

“Misato he was hurting me!” Asuka quickly said pretending to innocent. Shinji almost didn’t recognize her with that sad, ‘I’m an abandoned kicked puppy’ expression plastered on her face. 

“She hit me first Miss Misato! Look! Look!” Shinji said pointing at a small bump on his head. 

“But he hit me too!” Asuka said pointing at her slightly swollen cheek.

"I DID NOT!"

Misato sighed, crouched down in front of the children and pinched their noses really hard.

“OWWW” the pair of kids whined after Misato let them go. 

“Get into a fight next time and I’ll be telling your parents.” She proceeded to pick up both of them. One in each arm. 

_Miss Misato is really strong…_

Shinji thought to himself. 

She plopped the kids unto the couch, put on a movie and went into the kitchen to get a bag of ice. 

“Will Miss Misato really tell our parents?” Shinji asked Asuka. 

“Oh don’t worry Misato is not a snitch… It’s just a bluff. Misato’s pretty cool” Asuka replied.

Misato put a bag of ice on Shinji’s head and held one next to Asuka’s cheek.  
“You both are pretty strong for a bunch of 5-year-olds” Misato commented as she increased the volume of the TV 

“Yea we are. Being five is not an excuse to be weak” Asuka replied. This made Misato laugh. 

It was evening and the sun had almost set when Shinji’s parents came to pick him up. His swelling had gone down thanks to the ice by then.  
Misato opened the door to greet Yui and Gendo and then called for Shinji. Shinji ran to the door followed by Asuka.  
Rei wasn’t asleep anymore, she was hiding behind Yui and peeking inside. As soon as Shinji spotted her, he rushed to hug her and she smiled. 

“Who’s that?” Asuka asked pointing towards Rei.  
“This is Rei, my little sister” Shinji grinned as he let go.

Asuka didn’t say anything nor did Rei.

“Hey Stupid Shinji!” Asuka called as he left. “You better practice! I don’t want to carry you throughout the game next time”  
“Oh, you won’t. I bet I’ll be the one to carry _you_ next time.”  
“Is that so? We shall see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°


	3. The past world and this one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's a smol chapter.

##### November --, 2006 

“Alright now, Rei” she heard her Father’s voice say. “We need you to relax. Close your eyes and simply relax. Leave your muscles loose and let go of any tension in your body.”  
Rei was in the glass tank again, floating. It was filled with a liquid that smelled like blood. Not her blood though, her blood had a slightly different smell. Not that Rei mind being in the tank. She was used to it. She had been in the tank quite frequently. Every time a low humming sound encompassed her while she lay there. Rei couldn’t remember a time past the tank, not that there was much to remember, after all she was only 4.  
Rei breathed in and relaxed and slowly lost consciousness.  


Rei didn’t mind floating in the tank but she didn’t like falling asleep in it.  
Every time she did she felt like the liquid would consume her. She felt like she would melt and be one with it. She would have nightmares and lucid dreams that felt almost like memories from a distant time. She wouldn’t remember any of them after she woke up but felt very drained and tired.  


“Rei you can open your eyes now.”  
…  
“Rei, wake up”  
…  
“Rei”  
…  
“Rei”  
…  
“REI”  


Rei woke up in a panic. Outside she could see her father heave a sigh of relief and her mother’s face staring at her devoid of any expression.  
Was that her mother’s face? Or hers?

* * *

Kaworu Nagisa’s memories were muddled. Sometimes he could remember and sometimes he would not. Were they just dreams? Were his memories actually real? It felt like he remembered different variations of the same incidents over and over again. Now that he was thought that he was positively human (or a ‘lilim’ as remembered calling them) he wanted some sort of confirmation that what he once seemed to have experienced was real. That he was once an ‘angel’ and that this time, hopefully, this time he isn’t one.  


“How did I end up here?” Kaworu asked Makinami while she was bringing him a new set of books to read.  
“Just like all the other kids did.” Makinami said simply.  
“Oh.”  
Kaworu thought for a while. “The other kids don’t like talking to me. I even know all their names! But they don’t treat me like one of them” He said finally.  
“Have you tried asking them why?”  
“I want to! But I only ever get to see them during recess and it’s too short to even start a proper conversation with them”  
“Don’t worry. You will be going to school soon, won’t you? You’ll meet people there and you won’t be lonely anymore”  


Lonely? Kaworu was used to loneliness. In all the past lifetimes that he seemed to have remembered he was always so very lonely and his time was short. He didn’t mind it very much. He took solace in Adam’s calling, in the thought that one day he won’t be alone anymore. He’d be with Adam. But then he met someone, someone as lonely as him. And after he met that someone, he would take solace in the hopes of meeting that someone once again.  


But he was a human now, wasn’t he?

Kaworu brightened up. “Oh yes! I hope they like me there!”  
“I’m sure they will”  
“But why am I going to a different school than the other kids?”  
“Because you’re special.”  
“But I don’t wanna be…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There were so many errors in the past chapters! I'm really embarrassed,,, I rewrote a bit and I hope I fixed most of them...


	4. Spy and Spy junior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaworu makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I find Mari a bit hard to write since there’s so little material to go off of but i really enjoy her character. She's such a fun presence!! ( ´ ▽ ` )

#####  November --, 2006 

Ryoji Kaji leaned against the building pillar and popped open his can of cold coffee ... Well, it wasn’t very ‘cold’ per se, it had been hanging out at the back of his car for god knows how long but it was a rather hot day and he was afraid that a certain little ankle-biter might get her little hands on it (and then fall sick because of it)

He checked his watch. 45 minutes had passed since they'd gotten here and he was yet to be granted entry. He wasn't in a rush, patience is a key part of his job after all and if the organisation was going to make itself look so suspicious it would only make things easier for him.

“Mr Kaaaajjjiii, Mr Kaaaajiii, Mr Kaji Kaji Kaji Kaji Kaji'' wailed a little voice from his car. Kaji sighed and looked back at his convertible. Mari, who was standing on the seat and leaning over the window shot him a wide grin. Her twin-tails flopped about a bit as a strong gust of wind passed by. Kaji gave her a gentle smile.

“Yes, Mari?”

“How long till you get to go in?? It’s been almost an hour!! Can't we just walk in?? Say, this place is pretty posh for an orphanage, no??”

“This place also doubles as a school and they’re taking time because they find me a ‘Questionable figure’”

“Do they know I’m here, too?? Can’t you just drop me off a park or something ??”

“They don't, it’ll be quite a surprise, won't it? And I’m not gonna let you out all by yourself. What if you bite someone or something?? Besides, it isn’t really my fault that they’re not letting us in.”

At this remark, Mari puffed her cheeks and playfully blew a raspberry at him.

“Don't be mean!! And it IS your fault for looking so 'Questionable' ”

Kaji sighed once again and said “What about me is so questionable? I’m a humble man dressed in humble clothes here for a humble chat with some of the staff”

Mari narrowed her eyes, “And yet, your humble self pulls up in a convertible. You want me to snoop around here don’t you?”

Kaji chuckled but before he could answer Mari the security said that they could be let in.  
\-----------

“Heyo!!”

Kaworu was pleasantly surprised when he turned to look at the source of the unfamiliar voice.  
A brunette around his age gave him a kind wave and a cat-like smile before adjusting her glasses and walking towards him.

“Hello” Kaworu returned kindly.

“What’s that you’re doin’?”

Kaworu was crouched and was holding a small bowl of milk. He pointed somewhere in the distance. Mari readjusted her glasses and crouched down like him. She had to squint a little before she saw what he was pointing towards. A little cat was licking its paw, it was a soft white but covered in a bit of dirt and looked frail. Mari gasped.

“It comes here quite often and whenever it does, I try to give it something but it always runs away when I get near.” he sighed

“That’s no problem!! Let me try!!” Mari beamed and she hopped off the little ledge and quickly darted towards the cat. Kaworu was so startled by this that he almost tumbled backwards and spilt the milk

"Wait!! No, you'll-" but before he could finish his sentence he saw Mari topple and fall two inches away from the cat and heard a shrill screech from it. Kaworu closed his eyes in disappointment.

For a split second, he was absolutely devastated. He thought that the cat wouldn't come back and that this freaky little girl had scared it away forever. He had spent weeks trying to befriend that cat. It looked so weak and uncared for, mewling all by itself. It always showed up alone, without any siblings or parents. Kaworu wished he could make it happy. Oddly enough, this sense of failure and loss felt familiar.

He shook his head and was about to go and help that girl but when he looked up she was standing before him. There were specks of soil and grass on her face, shirt and skirt, her glasses a bit lopsided and she had scraped her left knee but it didn't seem like she minded it. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat and looked really proud of herself. In her arms was nestled the little white cat, confused but comfortable.

"Y'know there are an awful lot of holes in that garden patch, isn't there anyone to fill them up?"

Kaworu felt his heart warm up. He'd never seen the cat up this close. He couldn't help but be enthralled by it.

"Here," she said, handing the cat over to Kaworu. He felt a sudden dread of hurting it when he reached out to take it and asked her to put it down near the milk bowl instead. The cat quickly licked away at the milk while Kaworu watched and Mari gently stroked it's back.

"You see, if you want to pick up a cat you've got to squish it. Squish it real nice and tight to your body, that way the cat feels safe and cared for!! I'm Mari by the way"  
Kaworu was so immersed in watching the cat drink milk he got a bit startled when she spoke.

"Oh! Oh, Nice to meet you, Mari. I'm Kaworu Nagisa. You seem to know a lot about cats"

"Mhm, you bet! I have sooo many cats back home. I have brown cats, black cats, calicos, and Oh! Oh! I also have one which doesn’t have any fur!”

“That seems really nice.”

“Say Kaworu, What’re you doing here all alone?”

“I can ask you the same thing, Mari. You’re not from here, are you?”

“Hmmm~ I don’t know maybe. But I asked first, so you have to tell me first”

“Fair enough. The other kids have classes but my school hasn’t started yet.”

“Isn’t this place also a school? Why’re you going to another school? Do you know which School?”

_This Mari girl is quite nosy…_

“I really wish I knew the answer to those questions”

“Oh well, I guess it can’t be helped then. My uh… Uncle has some work to do here and he asked me to tag along but I got bored waiting for him so I started to look around. As I was saying, I also have a reaaalllyyy pretty- ”

Mari might’ve been really talkative but Kaworu didn’t mind. Being with her felt like being with an old friend even though it had been only minutes since they met. She hadn’t commented on his off-putting looks either, which felt like a really nice change.

While Mari was droning on about her cats while petting one and Kaworu was intently listening to her, a tall figure approached and loomed over them. Mari felt her neck go cold extremely suddenly.

“EEEK!!!” she screamed before whipping her head around to see Kaji grinning unapologetically at her. Kaworu looked up too and the strange man gave him a warm smile. (Kaworu was receiving an unnatural amount of smiles today)

“MR KAJI!! Where’d you even get another can of coffee from?”

“From the staff Cafeteria, of course. Anyway, it's time to go, Mari. Oh, I see you made a new friend” the man remarked as he looked at Kaworu.

“Yeah, he’s pretty nice. I helped him get a cat”

“Wouldn’t expect any less from you” Kaji chuckled.

Mari gave the cat one last pat before getting up and dusting herself. Kaworu got up too and thanked her for the help.

As Mari waved him a goodbye she yelled, “The next time we meet, let me know what you name it!!”

Kaworu wasn’t sure that there would be a next time. He was afraid that the cat too, might’ve left like Mari but when he looked down he saw it had curled up against his foot, well-fed and sleeping soundly. A smile broke through on Kaworu’s face.

_I should start researching about good names to give a cat._  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now then!! The two platonic friendships I wanted are set, time for Kaworu and Shinji to meet. (￣ω￣)


End file.
